Submitted by Alysa Caparaso Hurley
(November 19, 2024) — Schools nationwide are exploring the meaning of the word “thankful” this week. Preschoolers at the Haddam Cooperative Nursery School stepped back in time to reflect upon the word thankful and what it means to them during an incredible opportunity to take a walking field trip to Haddam’s very own Thankful Arnold House. The youngest members of Haddam’s present were ushered into our town’s rich past as they stepped through the door of the Thankful Arnold House.
Excitement was in the air as the hardy four- and five-year-old preschoolers, along with their teachers, Miss Amanda and Mrs. Carlson, and their parent (and grandparent) chaperones took a walk in past Haddam residents’ footsteps. The group was led from the Congregational Church up the stone steps to the old Town Hall/Masonic Lodge.
Taking a brief moment to take in the view from the top and to high-five friends, they walked through the grass and joyfully picked up many (many!) pine cones as they made their way down the hill. The preschoolers and their entourage then arrived and happily greeted Elizabeth Malloy, Executive Director of the Haddam Historical Society and Thankful Arnold House Museum, and Nicole Harlow, Education Coordinator for the Haddam Historical Society.
The children hung on every word Elizabeth Malloy and Nicole Harlow said as they learned about what Thankful’s Thanksgiving traditions were like in the 1830s. There was shock and disbelief as the preschoolers learned that personal favorites such as watermelon and macaroni and cheese were not yet on the menu back then.
Tensions were high among the children and relief was palpable as they learned that another top group favorite, pie, was in fact made and served. Nicole Harlow gave them a peek at a working reproduction butter churn that would have been used to create the butter used in such pie crusts. Elizabeth Malloy showed them a reflector oven where the turkey (also a fan favorite) would have cooked.
The preschoolers got hands-on experience using antique kitchen aids that would have been used in creating a Thanksgiving feast, such as sugar nippers, a nutmeg grater, and a mortar and pestle where they took turns grinding up dried sage from Thankful’s garden.
The group went downstairs and ended their visit by creating their own personal “pumpkin pie” out of clay and homemade orange puffy paint complete with a stir in of the nutmeg and cinnamon they worked so hard to grate upstairs.
Happy chatter began again as the members of HCNS walked out of the house and back into the present where they once again reflected upon what they were thankful for as they walked back to the school in the sunshine. Ovens with windows, mashed potatoes, electric lights, and of course pine cones, still hastily being collected and put into pockets, were some of the things the young friends felt grateful about.
Haddam’s past and present briefly came together for just a moment as one child looked back at the Thankful Arnold House and thought aloud, “Santa really has his pick of fireplaces to come down in that place, I bet the kids who lived there were thankful for that.” And with that, all Higganum/Haddam residents can be thankful for our town’s dedication to our history, brought to life by the timeless joy and wonder of childhood.
Photo provided by HCNS
